Most Haunted Live!
Most Haunted Live was a spin-off of the paranormal reality television series Most Haunted and was also produced by Antix Productions. The show consists of paranormal investigations broadcast live over a period of one or more nights, usually with interactive sections that involve the viewer. Origins The first episode of Most Haunted Live was broadcast on October 31, 20u fnjthk02, from Dudley Castle and was produced jointly by Antix and Hanrahan Media. The next seven live events were produced by Hanrahan; however the eighth was produced by Antix, as Hanrahan had changed large amounts of the format, replacing the original Most Haunted music cues with their own versions and changing the styles of cameras and editing, making them inconsistent with the Most Haunted episodes. Antix's first solo production of Most Haunted Live was a grand affair with a large set, the original Most Haunted music and all the crew involved (Hanrahan only involved Yvette, Derek and Phil from the episode team). The first Most Haunted Live show aired for only one night but now are usually broadcast over a period of three nights. The first exception was the Halloween 2005 show in London, which was broadcast for four nights. Since then there have been live shows which have lasted five nights (Halloween 2007 & Turin 2008), seven nights (Halloween 2008 and Liverpool 2009)and eight nights (Lancashire Halloween 2009). Gothic Prague - The Evil Within was on for four nights. 'Most Haunted Live!' did not return for Halloween 2010 and was replaced by a new paranormal show called 'Paranormal Investigation :LIVE!' which aired for two nights on Sky Living for halloween 2010. In 2011 it was reported that Sky Living has chosen not to re-commission either 'Most Haunted' or 'Most Haunted Live!' but thanked both Yvette Fielding and her husband Karl Beattie for their hard work and commitment over the years. Karl Beattie has recently stated on his official Facebook page that now Sky Living have released the rights to 'Most Haunted' & 'Most Haunted Live!' back to Antix Productions which is run by Karl and Yvette Fielding, they could now go to other broadcasters with it stating: I think that a new home and better investigation techniques will move MH into the next phase making it bigger and better than ever. We are very excited about MH’s future, so onwards and upwards my paranormal friends. xx The team This table shows a list of the current team members and their role in the live shows. Most of these are investigators and are part of the investigation team on location, whereas others are based in the hub. Chris Conway was Most Haunted's Residential Medium up until 13 March 2010, When the Live series ended. There were many different reasons pointed out by himself and by other people regarding him leaving the show. No New Residential Medium has been announced to take Chris's position in team, For the Prague LIVE!, The team used mediums from Prague where the show was based. Format The live events were based on specific paranormal themes, the two most common themes being Halloween and the summer solstice which are reputedly the two most paranormally active periods of the calendar. Some themes are based on well known historical figures such as Dick Turpin, William Shakespeare, Jack the Ripper and Dracula. Other themes include Pirates Curse a live event which took place over a weekend in May 2007. For Halloween 2007, the team embarked on a five night investigation. They traveled around the country in the shape of an inverted pentagram. For Halloween 2008, the Most Haunted Live team undertook a record seven night investigation in the Welsh town on Denbigh, investigating the disused Asylum in the village. A further seven night investigation is taking place over a week in January 2009 in Liverpool, where the team investigate each night a different aspect of the paranormal. "The Hub", as it was known, was the centre of communications where the audience and main studio were set up. The presenter, Paul Ross, historian, Lesley Smith and 'demonologist' Fred Batt worked from the hub. As did the interactive team and its leader, Julian Clegg. The hub was also the location of the gallery and production offices. The show was fully interactive. There were usually four webcams running through the event which could be watched online. Viewers could also send emails and text messages to report their own experiences. Notable events Most Haunted Live made its debut in 2002, with their first ever live investigation at Dudley Castle. At the time it was the first ever live ghost hunt on British television. During the Dick Turpin episode at New Year 2003/4, Derek came up with the quote 'Mary Loves Dick'. Footage leaked onto the internet recorded off the satellite feed from the location back to the studio shows the team falling about laughing after handing back to Dr David Bull in the hub. In February 2004 the team visited Stratford upon Avon, where a spoon was thrown in Yvette's direction, terrifying her. Derek was possessed. Derek's possessions continued at their next investigation in Essex, where he was possessed twice in one night. For Halloween 2004, the team visited Pendle Hill in Lancashire. It is regarded widely as one of the most terrifying investigations so far, with many members of the crew collapsing, being sick with some escorted outside. Furthermore an ouija board was spinning out of control constantly answering to all questions cultimating in the glass flying off the table and smashing on the floor and the table itself collapsing. In June 2005, the Most Haunted team visited the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. Here, Fielding chose to do a lone vigil on the stage at Wakefield theatre, and whilst exiting the stage a series of large moans and groans were heard and Yvette suddenly broke down into tears on the stage. Also in Wakefield at the National Coal Mining Museum, Derek Acorah was supposedly pulled down the mine shaft by a spirit. Most Haunted Live in Wakefield was the most watched programme on television that night. The 17th edition of Most Haunted Live took place for Halloween 2005 in London. It was, at the time, the longest live to date and marked the end of an era as fans bid farewell to medium Derek Acorah and the original Most Haunted Live presenter, David Bull who both left at the end of the fourth and final night. Most Haunted Live returned for its 19th edition in May 2006 where Yvette Fielding and the team spent three nights investigating haunted locations in Portsmouth including an experiment in which two crew members were buried alive. The show changed considerably as everyone welcomed their new presenter Paul Ross and historian Lesley Smith. While Ross is still involved, Smith has said on her personal Myspace page that, after the death of her mother she has decided to pull out of Most Haunted indefenetly. However, Paul Ross wasn't originally the choice for David Bull's replacement. The team gave Jamie Darling a chance to present the show when Most Haunted Live spanned 3 nights in Liverpool at the end of 2005; however, he proved not to be such a success. Halloween 2006 saw the team investigate the series of underground vaults beneath Edinburgh that had been visited in a previous episode in Series 3. This is considered as another of the more unnerving investigations. On the second night, three members of the crew were violently slashed by an unseen force on their backs and legs resulting in excessive bleeding causing the team to cancel the investigation early. On 23 February 2007, for the first time in a live programme, the team visited an overseas location. This investigation was held in Hunyad Castle in Transylvania, Romania. The team attempted to make contact with the spirit of Vlad III the Impaler thought to be the inspiration behind the legend of Dracula. David Wells did pick up on the entity of Vlad but however he said he only haunts the castle as a residual energy. Yvette Fielding also slapped her husband, Karl, live on air as she thought he was possessed and he was getting out of control. Over the three nights only a small amount of activity was caught however there was footage of an apparent manifestation although this is yet to be proved unanimously. On June 1, 2007, Most Haunted Live joined forces with the Travel Channel in the USA to broadcast a live show from Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. The format was also changed from the usual three night, three hour format to be a one night special lasting seven hours through to the early hours of June 2. Because of the time differences the show was not broadcast in the UK and viewers in the USA were the sole target audience. Antix Productions then broadcast live for 5 nights for their Most Haunted Live on Halloween 2007. The studio was set up in Tatton Park, Cheshire. The team visited multiple sites across the country beginning in Northern England and ending on Halloween in Wales with the locations plotted out to the five points of a satanic pentagram (one point down, two points up). The 25th UK audience event also lasted five nights and was broadcast from Turin in Italy, starting on 26 March 2008. It was the team's third event broadcast from an overseas location. The theme of the event was based on Turin's historic nickname of "Satan's City." With the departure of David Wells, Brian Sheperd a guest medium during series four/five of Most Haunted, served as medium for this show. An American medium, Patrick Matthews, also appeared in the hub to give more guidance and views. On 29 August 2008, the Most Haunted Live team contributed to the celebration of 15 years of the channel LIVING by conducting the first ever continuous 3 day and 3 night paranormal, underground investigation. The theme of the live event was Total Darkness. Over the three day period, the team visited the London Tombs, Aldwych tube station (featured in Series 1, 2002) and finished off in the Cabinet War Rooms at the end of the month. During a webchat, in reply to a question about the show going off air at midnight, Beattie stated: "We are looking at something special for Halloween as we want to do longer investigations in the UK". Indeed the halloween event was their biggest show to date broadcasting from Saturday, 25 October, until Friday, 31 October, making it 7 nights long. The team investigated a derelict Asylum in Denbigh, North Wales. After Most Haunted televised at the asylum, the hall that was used as the studio has been completely destroyed by a fire. Most Haunted Live returned on 10 January 2009 for another week long investigation where each night the Most Haunted team, led by Yvette Fielding, looked for the seven manifestations of evil. Each night was shot at various locations around Liverpool with the studio based at St. George's Hall in the City Centre. During this event both mediums Brian Shepard and Billy Roberts alleged an evil spirit called Jake was following the team on their vigiles. During a seance the group allegedly made contact with the spirit of Jake, whom Brian expressed concerns over, believing the entity to be more of a demon than a mere spirit. On Night Five the team encountered Jake once again at Salmesbury Hall. During an experiment, Stuart Torevell was seated in a room alone in front of a mirror with a dummy stood behind, then later kicked the mirror shouting "evil bastard". Stuart had apparently frozen in fear just before the incident and later told of how the dummy behind him had developed a face with an evil grin but as he rose, the face changed back to normal. After this, the sound man also conducted a solo vigile in the room and reported witnessing the same thing as Stuart, startled by what he had allegedly seen he shouted for backup. Later on that evening, the crew experienced numerous banging noises around Salmesbury Hall. During the sixth night whilst conducting a seance, the team allegedly made contact with the spirit of Jake's father and it was then that Karl realised the name Jake is another name for the devil, confirmed by historian Lesley Smith & demonologist Fred Batt. In June 2009 it was reported that Most Haunted Live would return for 7 nights for an investigation of Poveglia Island in Italy. Some reports say that a trailer aired once on LivingTV before being scrapped. Paul O'Grady was due to take part - announcing on his show, while Yvette Fielding was a guest - 'I'm going off with her again very soon...' The reported missing live became a two part pre-recorded special called 'Death in Venice' with Yvette and Paul O'Grady. Halloween 2009 saw Most Haunted Live return after an 8 month wait. It was an eight night investigation broadcast from Morecambe, with the team travelling (usually) to Lancaster. This particular live event saw the return - after almost 6 years - of former Most Haunted paranormal investigator Phil Whyman. Most Haunted Live returned for its first Live of 2010 on Saturday, 9 January 2010, for a seven night live investigation from RAF West Raynham called Most Haunted Live: The Silent Town, with Dr.John Callow returning as the Historian. Fred Batt the demonologist didn't return for this live, but he posted on his Facebook networking page, it was due to unforeseen circumstances. Another addition to the live, was Most Haunted Live: Post Mortem which was shown each night 8 pm-9 pm on Livingit (Living2) instead of it being broadcast 8 pm-9 pm on Living. And the Main investigation was shown 9 pm – 12 am on Living. Lighting facilities were provided by television specialists Panalux. During the 3rd night on the January 2010 live Yvette Fielding and Ciaran O' Keeffe had an on-air argument, due to Ciaran claiming tapping noises were simply members of the crew clicking their toes. Fielding completely dismissed the idea, with Paul Ross defending the Most Haunted team, on the basis that Ciaran was trying to be too sceptical. The shooting of 'The Silent Town' drew national media attention when an internet-based group announced their intention to disrupt filming and offered a reward to anyone who assaulted Yvette Fielding. Another group later announced an intention to firebomb her, causing new headlines and increased security. It was announced at the start of March 2010 that Most Haunted Live would return at the end of the month for the show's 6th overseas live show, from Prague. The show ran for four nights, returning to the shorter format than the usual 5 to 8 nights of recent times. This was the first ever event to not feature a medium. Local mediums from Prague were used for two of the nights. It was thought the show would return on Halloween 2010, but Living decided to replace Most Haunted with a new show, Paranormal Investigation: Live. http://www.paranormalinvestigationlive.co.uk/ As of March 2010 'Most Haunted Live' has broadcast 108 live episodes and 35 live events. Thirty One have been broadcast for a UK audience and 3 to a USA audience. 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Most Haunted Live did not return over Halloween 2010 and was replaced by another paranormal show called "Paranormal Investigation Live" which aired on Sky Living for two nights for Halloween. Yvette Fielding confirmed on her official Facebook page that there are currently no plans to air a new Most Haunted Live. However Living TV / Sky Living have now released the rights to 'Most Haunted' and 'Most Haunted Live!' back to Antix Productions stating that they have chosen not to re-commission either 'Most Haunted' or 'Most Haunted Live!' but thanked both Yvette Fielding and Karl Beattie for their hard work and commitment over the years. Karl Beattie has stated on his official Facebook page that now the rights to 'Most Haunted' and 'Most Haunted Live' have been given back to Antix Productions (run by Yvette Fielding & Karl Beattie) they could now go to other broadcasters with it, saying : I think that a new home and better investigation techniques will move MH into the next phase making it bigger and better than ever. We are very excited about MH’s future, so onwards and upwards my paranormal friends. Most Haunted : The Live Series A Live Series of 'Most Haunted' was broadcast every Saturday on Living, live for two-hours. The Live Series ended on the 13th March 2010, to make way for The Next Most Haunted Live! event - Most Haunted Live! - Gothic Prague- The Evil Within ''Most Haunted Live! USA'' The following special live events were aired live in the USA only, but the UK aired a 2 hour edited version of the live events which were classed as the 'Almost' live series. References External links * * Category:Paranormal reality TV series Category:LivingTV television programmes Category:Paranormal television simple:Most Haunted Live! sv:Hemsökta hus (TV-serie)